The Merry Wives of Windsor was almost certainly required at short notice for a court occasion in 1597: Shakespeare threw into it all the creative energy that went into his Henry IV plays. Falstaff is here, with Pistol, Mistress Quickly, and Justice Shallow, in a spirited and warm-hearted 'citizen comedy'. Boisterous action is combined with situational irony and rich characterization. In his introduction T. W. Craik discusses the play's probable occasion (the Garter Feast of 1597 at court), its relationship to Shakespeare's English history plays and to other sources, its textual history (with particular reference to the widely diverging 1623 Folio and 1602 Quarto), and its original quality as drama. He assesses various interpretations of the play, topical, critical, and theatrical. In the commentary he pays particular attention to expounding the literal sense (he proposes some new readings) and evoking the stage business.
64-5 ) One of the earliest definitions of the word as used in this context occurs in Dives and Pauper , and is there so similarly phrased as to suggest that the author of Ludus Coventriae was acquainted with it . 48 ' Every craft pat ...
The Links in the Chain: Isolation and Interdependence in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Fictional Characters
The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most famous and controversial of Shakespeare's comedies.
May I ask , if it's not an impertinent question , what message you sent up that could have so aroused Miss Faulkner's desire to come down ? Holmes . Merely that if she wasn't down in five minutes , I'd go up . Larrabee .
Blits, Jan H., 'Manliness and Friendship in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar' Interpretation 9 (1981), 155–67. ... Bristol, Michael D., 'The Two Noble Kinsmen: Shakespeare and the Problem of Authority', in Charles H. Frey, ed., Shakespeare, ...
Thought to be written by amateur playwright John Newdigate III, the play tells the story of friar Albert and his seduction of a Venetian merchant's wife by posing as the God Cupid.
This new addition to the Sourcebooks Shakespeare series includes the play, essays by renowned scholars, a complete glossary, production photos, and an audio CD of famous performances through the years.
... Lord Gordon, Earl of Enzie; Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar; Sir George Goring; Sir John Grey; Sir Edward Herbert; Philip Herbert, 1st Earl of Montgomery; Sir William Hervey; Sir John Holles; Sir Gilbert Houghton; Mr Charles Howard; ...
Comedy / 8 m., 5 f., 1 c. / Int./ext.
This is a study guide for A level and GCSE students which should also provide good background information for first year undergraduate students. The guide provides literary criticism of the text together with ideas and questions.